This was a refreshing triumph for a 30-year-old man who was playing in Taiwan in 2010 and independent ball in Lancaster, Penn., thinking he might never be back in the majors.

This was a much-needed victory for the Angels (9-15), who needed to find their game by taking back-to-back contests and winning a series for only the second time in this unpredictable season.

Williams (2-1, 3.55) allowed just three hits (all singles), one walk and struck out six batters to earn his second career complete-game shutout, his first since June 27, 2003 when he was a member of the San Francisco Giants.

That's a span of 3,201 days for Williams, who sat in front of his clubhouse locker after the game, his son, Tai, 2, on his lap.

“I'm smarter now than in 2003,” he said. “I used to try to throw everything past guys and never listen to anybody but now I know location, the strike zone and I'm a pitcher.”

Williams was masterful with 109 pitches (79 strikes), using his sinker, cutter and timely curve to coax Twins batters into 14 groundball outs and three flyouts. He retired 17 consecutive batters from the fourth inning through the ninth inning when he walked Denard Span.

Williams benefited from the Angels' 4-0 lead by the third inning. Torii Hunter, who went 2 for 2 with a home run, led off the second inning with his fourth home run in five games.

Two batters later, Howie Kendrick, who went 3 for 4 with a home run and triple, launched a Francisco Liriano 93-mph fastball over the left-field wall for the 2-0 lead.

Chris Iannetta drew a leadoff walk in the third inning and the speedy Mike Trout laid down a bunt and legged it out for a single in 3.53 seconds.

Albert Pujols drove in Iannetta with a groundout but his first RBI (fifth this season) since April 15. Pujols finished the night going 0 for 4 and watched his batting average dip to .208.

Hunter slashed a single into left to score Trout and give the Angels a 4-0 advantage.

Twins starter Liriano got the loss, falling to 0-4 with an ERA of 9.97. He worked 5
1/3 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks.

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